This invention relates to earth-moving equipment having an open-topped scraper bowl in which earth or other material is transported and a transverse floor ejector at the bottom of the bowl, the floor ejector being pivotally mounted on the bowl for arcuate swinging movement about a horizontal axis between closed and open positions. Typically, the bowl is provided with ground-engaging wheels at its rear end and the front end of the bowl is suspended by adjustable hydraulic bowl lift cylinders from the rear end of a towing tractor.
Such equipment is used to spread a layer of material on the ground as the bowl is towed forwardly and as the floor ejector is swung rearwardly to open the bowl for gravity ejection of the material from the bowl. As the floor ejector is pivoted to open position its front edge swings below the bottom of the bowl and is used as a strike-off blade to form the top surface of the ejected layer.
It is desired that the ejected layer laid by the equipment be of constant thickness as the bowl is towed forwardly and material is ejected therefrom. However, due to the pivotal mounting of the ejector floor the vertical distance of the ejector floor strike-off blade below the bottom of the bowl will vary as the ejector floor is progressively opened and consequently the vertical distance of the strike-off blade above the ground will vary.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide earth-moving equipment of the type set forth above with means to maintain the floor ejector strike-off blade at a constant elevation above the ground regardless of the degree of floor opening so that level spreading of a constant-thickness layer may be achieved.